


The Nightwatchman

by GuyofGisbourne



Category: Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: F/M, Female Empowerment, Feminist Themes, Inner Dialogue, Origin story of Marian as the Nightwatchman, Short One Shot, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:07:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29396688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuyofGisbourne/pseuds/GuyofGisbourne
Summary: “My father had me taught to fight. He wanted me to have choices in the world and I chose to help the poor. You are not about to stop me from doing that.”A short story exploring the origins of how Marian became the Nightwatchman after Robin left for the crusades.
Relationships: Marian of Knighton/Robin of Locksley
Comments: 3
Kudos: 4





	The Nightwatchman

**Author's Note:**

> This is my love letter and tribute to a wonderful female icon who not only fought to find her way in a world that told her to be something else, but fought to also help others in need. Marian of Knighton from the BBC Robin Hood series is one of the character’s from the show who is dear to me as a woman trying to do the same thing in this complicated world. The Nightwatchman was an essential part of who Marian was as a person and I felt it needed to be explored, especially concerning all the feels that come from the Season 2 & 3 finales. 
> 
> As you will see, the different sections begin with quotes said by Marian throughout the show that I thought were good and related to the story of her origins to becoming the Nightwatchman.

_"_ _I am sick of people - and it is always men - telling me what is wise and what is not. What I want, who I am.... does not count."_

* * *

Looking upon the letter, at first she felt her body go numb. Her heart began to race and she found it hard to breath, trying to process the words and their meaning on the piece of paper. Tears started to form in her blue eyes as the words finally ran through her mind crystal clear: Robin had left to go to war. 

He went to fight beside King Richard in the crusades and left her behind, his only way of informing her was in the form of this letter. And then, Marian started to feel her sadness be replaced by the fire burning in her veins. **_That same fire that was constantly simmering away inside her, but forced to remain silent because such behavior was not expected from a woman._ **

Robin, the Earl of Huntingdon and Lord of Locksley, was her betrothed. It was an arrangement set by her father due to the two men being good friends with one another. At first Marian didn’t think much of him. She found his smug and bratty behavior to be rather off-putting, but once she took the time to get to know the young lord, there appeared to be more to him than met the eye. He was kind to his subjects and sarcastically dealt with his enemies. He cared for his people and his country, there was no denying that. Overtime she started to find him charming and before she knew it, Marian had fallen in love with him.

Robin accepted her for who she was and she thought they shared a lot in common, but now...her heart felt like it had been crushed. _The audacity!_ He didn’t even bother to come tell her he was leaving in person. After everything they had been through together, their relationship had been reduced to nothing more than letters on this piece of paper.

Looking away from the letter, Marian curled her hand, hearing it crunch before she threw it away and decided to work with moving on. 

* * *

_“_ _The truth? The truth is, this country is being choked to death. The truth is, honest people are being forced to lie and cheat and steal.”_

Time had gone by and a new person was assigned to become the Sheriff of Nottingham, taking her father’s place. Marian didn’t understand why her father had given up his position so easily without a fight. If she was in his position, she would have fought back... **_if only._ **

Ever since Vaisey arrived, she noticed how drastically things changed in the once peaceful place of Nottinghamshire. Then again, things only seemed to be changing once Robin left. Marian would attend the Council of Nobles with her father and got to know exactly what kind of people this new sheriff and his lieutenant were. First it started with higher taxes, followed by cruel discipline, and then public executions. 

The people of Nottingham were starting to be choked to death, both figuratively and literally. It was obvious in their weary eyes and the suppressed sobs. People were trying to get by with what they had, but for some families, it wasn’t enough. Honest people felt the need to lie and cheat and steal just to survive in the world. Either way, it was death if they starved because they couldn’t afford food or if they didn’t pay their taxes.

The sheriff would write it off saying it was for the good of the country and to help support King Richard in the Holy Lands, but it was obvious to the nobles who knew the sheriff behind the closed doors of their meetings that it was all for selfish gain. He didn’t care what happened to others as long as the money kept coming. 

Once again, Marian began to feel that fire now beginning to boil away inside her, desperate to make a change. **_But she had to remember her place._** Despite being of noble birth and not struggling as they were, she understood exactly how the peasants of Nottingham were currently feeling; suppressed, crushed, expected to follow through with certain things and to keep their mouths shut. 

Marian tried her best to help people when she could. She tried to speak up in the meetings, telling the sheriff that as nobles they should be helping the peasants, but instead got **_silenced once again_ **. It was difficult to watch as the other nobles she knew so well, the people who once followed under her father, readily bowed their heads to this cruel man and his ways. 

It made her sick to her stomach. No one dared to speak out or try to help those suffering. People were dying and no one was willing to help, instead turning their heads the other way and letting everything fall on deaf ears, afraid of the consequences of getting caught.

Someone had to stand up. Someone had to help. Someone had to know the risks they would be taking undergoing such a task, and they had to do it without getting caught. 

_“Everything is a choice. Everything we do.”_ she mumbled to herself. 

The sheriff chose to be a cruel man working under Prince John. Her father chose to be a benevolent person when he was sheriff. The nobles chose to follow the sheriff’s words despite disagreeing with them. And Robin chose to run away and fight in the crusades, leaving her behind.

Well, it was time she stopped listening to what the men in her life told her to do. If they chose to be the way they were and do the things they did, why couldn’t she? **She was just as capable as the rest of them.**

Marian was tired of sitting around, remaining quiet, and letting this injustice happen. The fire wasn’t going to be contained anymore. **She had made her choice.**

* * *

_“I want somebody for once to think about how they can help me. Help to do what I want to do, what I think is wise.”_

Rummaging through her clothes, Marian had found a variety of different clothes she could use. An old cloak, a pair of pants, a top, a scarf, and some boots. Realizing that if she layered herself in the different types of clothes, she could disguise the shape of her body and that the scarf could be used to cover her face, but there was still the question of covering her eyes. 

Someone could still recognize her. 

Looking through her array of fabrics, she decided it would only be wise to make the mask herself. It would take her sometime, but just like learning how to fight, she would be successful. 

Marian was grateful for her life. She was blessed to be the daughter of Sir Edward of Knighton and be of noble birth. Not many were lucky to have a kind and caring father as she did. Having lost her mother at a young age, Marian was raised by her father. Edward wanted his daughter to have choices in a world that told women they could make so few of them. So, when Marian chose to be like her father and be taught to fight, he didn’t say no.

She learned how to fight with a sword, battle in combat both armed and unarmed and taught how to do archery. However, something she advanced in that no man could even seem to achieve was her acrobatic skills. Marian took great confidence in this, using it to her advantage. She enjoyed the fight and the adrenaline it brought with it. 

Putting on the mask she finally finished, Marian took a look at herself in the mirror wearing the outfit and knew it was time. That fire inside her began to roar to life and that was when she knew; **she was ready to start fighting back.**

* * *

_“Support me. As the Nightwatchman, I want to do more, not less. Protect me from the Gisborne’s of this world. Accept me, the daughter you have, not the daughter you wanted.”_

Her first attempt was visiting the village of Locksley at night. It seemed better to go at night starting out as there was a less likely chance of being caught. Once her father went to sleep, Marian would put on her outfit and sneak out through the window, loading one of the local carts with a sack of food and medicine she had acquired and give it to those that needed it desperately. 

She held her breath, making her way to the familiar village. This was where Robin had once lived, in Locksley manor. It was now occupied by Guy of Gisborne, the sheriff’s right hand man. Shaking away the old memories of him and wondering of his whereabouts, Marian proceeded to focus on her mission. She couldn’t go any further unless risking getting caught by his guards.

Picking up the sacks, Marian used the cover of nighttime to sneak her way to some of the houses in the village, remaining undetected by the guards. Laying one of the sacks outside a door, she dared to knock, letting the family know of the items outside their door before it was confiscated. 

Quickly hiding behind a pile of hay, she peered out from behind it and saw a mother with her child in her arms spotting the sack of supplies. Questioning why and how it got there, Marian bravely stepped out from behind her hiding place. Noticing nothing but the blue eyes behind the mask starting back at her and the sack on their back, the woman nodded. “Thank you.” She was a single mother trying to raise her child who had fallen sick and was barely managing to scrap by. Her husband passed away in the wars. 

Marian gave a nod back before continuing onto the next house, carefully observing her surroundings. She was enjoying this, not just the thrill of the adventure and the danger lurking around the corner, but the fact she was helping others and was going to get away with it without being told to stop. 

Arriving at her last house for the night, she directly handed the items to the recipient and made her way back home. 

* * *

_“My father had me taught to fight. He wanted me to have choices in the world and I chose to help the poor. You are not about to stop me from doing that.”_

News of the mysterious person visiting Locksley village in the dead of night had spread like wildfire. Soon enough, other neighboring villages and towns began to speak of the generous figure, hoping and praying they would visit them next. 

But of course news of what had happened ended up in the ears of the sheriff who was far from happy hearing of someone going behind his back and undermining his authority. During the Council of Nobles, Marian couldn’t help but smile over the irritation on his face, not that anyone in the room would take notice of her reaction. Then again, no one really cared what she did as long as she remained silent. 

Marian was done remaining silent. By day she would play the part, but at night, she would fight and help the poor in her own way, taking joy in the hope it would bring the people and the irritation it would bring the sheriff the next morning. 

Each night it started to become a routine, but the more she continued to do it, the closer Marian knew she was to getting herself into danger. Eventually, the figure who would fight and help the poor at night started to become known as The Nightwatchman by everyone. Even when Marian dared to start coming out during the day, the name stuck. 

There were days where her mind would drift and she would begin to wonder how Robin was fairing in the Holy Lands. Despite her anger towards him, she still loved him and knew she always would, and prayed he would return back home safely just so she could kick his ass for leaving her behind.

However, Marian realized she had changed. She was no longer the woman he had once known. When he left, she began to find herself. Yes, she was Marian of Knighton, the daughter of Sir Edward of Knighton, the former Sheriff of Nottingham...but there was so much more to her than just her pretty face or her father’s title. She was the Nightwatchman too; the person who undermined the Sheriff of Nottingham’s ways and kept avoiding being captured by Sir Guy of Gisborne. She was a fighter in her own right and someone who protected and helped those who could not defend themselves. 

They could try, but no one could stop her. She would persist. That fire inside her was blazing uncontrollably and nothing could stop her now. This was who she was now. 

And she would continue to do this, **even with her dying breath.**


End file.
